Has anyone ever come up to you out of no where & said this to you? Honestly I think I would wonder why they said it, in the most reflex response my mind would try to run down the list of possible reason but not to mention I’d have to fight off the defeating question of their potential hidden agenda.

But why do we do that? Why can’t we just accept when we are honored? Is it some sort of self proposed humbling gesture to swat down good feed back? Why? What’s worse, we graciously take one tiny negative comment or look and start building a wall with it.

Come on we can’t do this any longer. If we have any intentions of finishing this chapter of life stronger, we can’t do that. I’m speaking to myself here.

Can we commit to each other this month that this is where we draw the line in the sand?

This is where we look in the mirror and see exactly who God created!!! THIS is where we won’t find ” MOST PEOPLE”…

This is where we get to find out… {beyond the faults & blames; beyond the quirks & ‘that’s just who I am’; beyond the rationalizations of ‘but last time I tried that’ } & we embrace who we REALLY are, where we start becoming all God created us to be!!!

(DESCRIPTION:Many women are tired. Tired of trying to do more, be more, and have more. With busy work, home and church lives, it’s easy to feel like our spiritual growth gets short-changed. But what if God is already pleased, more than pleased–totally head over heels crazy about us and our hearts regardless of our mistakes and crunched schedules? If it’s true, that big load we’ve been carrying feels lighter already. In You’re Already Amazing, Holley Gerth wants readers to know that they can lay down the burden of their own, and others expectations, and embrace who they are as beloved, talented women. Rediscover the gifts you’ve been given and the life of purpose that God has for you.)

You don’t have to do more, be more, have more…if you’re really ready to take hold of who you are and what you’re called to do, there will be no stopping you. That’s because there’s no stopping Him in YOU-and he’s got bigger plans for your life than you’ve even imagined! –Holly Gerth

So you ready? Let’s do this…

Week 1: read chapters 1 & 2

–>Which story at the beginning of Ch1 did you relate to the most (the friend at lunch, counseling client, or woman sending the email)?

–>The ‘it girl’ is thought of as a woman everyone wants to be like in our culture. Do you ever feel pressure to be like women in the media? Share one example

–>In contrast, through Scripture God says you’re an “is girl”. He looks at you and says “She is _______________.” Fill in the blank with a few of the words your heart most needs to hear today. (Example: she is loved)

Ch 2

Look back at the strengths you circled on the list in this chapter. Write your top 3 here.

–> We often think of weaknesses as a negative thing. But research shows that having weaknesses in certain areas actually helps us to be stronger in others. God also says that his “strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV). What’s a weakness you wish you didn’t have? In what ways could it actually help you be who God created you to be? (Example: being weak at details helps make you strong at seeing the big picture.)

1 John 5:14-15 NLT

And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

Sometimes life feels like it’s in cruise or coast even with your foot on the gas. I’ve slowly come to learn those are the moments when Jesus took the wheel!

I use to ask God why. I use to cry out WHEN, and Lord knows when my babies were babies there were countless times I cried WHAT ABOUT ME.

These babies! Kept me on my toes movin’ & chasing after them. They kept me on my knees praying for strength! They are my purpose! When they were young I was a stay-at-home-mom and I remember someone saying to me that maybe this was my calling, this was my ministry; even if only for a season. Had it not been for that season, we wouldn’t have made it to this season…

18 years. And I’m still learning. Wow 18 years now I feel old. Scratch that man, I remember doing the math when I found out the biggest baby was on the way! I wondered to myself if I’d still “have it” when he graduated. It’s been a long journey of growing, forgiveness, mistakes, but through it all my best friend stood by me. Having people by your side who believe in you no matter what is the key to life’s greatest successes.

This week I became ridiculously frustrated. To tears. It was almost like that pregnant friend who calls and says “just get this baby out of me, I’m over it at this point” and she knows there’s at least a few weeks to go.

That’s the discomfort I felt inside. Having given birth to 3 fair sized munchkins myself (all C-Section I might add); my emotions were trapped in the delivery room nausea, the fear of the post op pain, and the frustration of the post baby pooch.

Now I speak of this “pain” in childbirth like humor to prove a point. This past year, coincidentally “09”, felt like 9 months of incubation, trimester cycles and physical reshaping. I felt like God was creating something in me that is now ready to be birthed.

For almost 8yrs now I’ve had the honor and privilege to nurture the healthy lifestyles of women from every walk and life-stage. We’ve talked, we’ve squatted, we’ve wogged (somewhere between walking and jogging) and we’ve become close friends.

I’ve committed to becoming the trainer that everyone seeks after, the “best” instructor on the schedule, the one that simply gets what it’s like no matter what it is and yet somehow I feel as though my due date keeps getting pushed back.

Since inception, inneractive FITCLUB was created with an idea that we could keep busy moms fit while keeping their schedules and commitments with their children. I knew that it was God-breathed when I came upon the scripture which now stands as a cornerstone to my training philosophy; Ephesians 3:16 “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man.”

So why am I so frustrated. Well, just as the pregger chick, I’m ready to get this thing out of me. I’m well certain it can breath on it’s own, it has the legs and arms and all the appendages to move and stand and hold onto whatever is placed in its hands. Its ready, I’ve maintained a proper diet of the Word of God, an active lifestyle with consistent exercise in living a life of discipline and love and all things that are in the list of the fruits of the spirit, I have all the signs and symptoms of being ready to deliver! Arrrrrggggggg

But no delivery. YET! It’s December 29th and I can reflect on the time I’ve prepared for this “birthing” and I can hope and pray that when God deems the time right for it to be presented to the world it will be beautiful. It will resemble my traits, it will have my character and personality but more important it will be evidence of His wonder and miracle in the process! Praise His Holy Name!!!!!!!!!! I am expecting!!!!!

-keep your heart pumpin’ and your spirit movin’

Amia

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